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January 7, 2016

The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee {Talya Tate Boerner}

Ten-year-old Gracie Lee knows a few things. She knows which trees are
best for climbing. She knows how to walk through the hallway without making a
sound on the hardwood floor. She knows if Daddy's crop gets one more drop of
rain, the whole family will pay the price. There are plenty of things Gracie
doesn't know. These things keep her awake at night. Gracie longs for something
bigger and grander and truer, and feels certain there is more to life beyond
school and dull church sermons. She worries about the soldiers in Vietnam and
wonders what it must be like to have been born Lisa Marie Presley from
Tennessee instead of Gracie Lee Abbott from Arkansas. Mostly, she wishes her
Daddy wasn't so mean. Gracie's unchecked imagination leads to adventure, and
adventure leads to trouble. She confides in unexpected characters and seeks
solace in a mysterious gray house beyond the cotton field. When Gracie faces a
difficult family situation, she must make a life-altering decision, one that
will test the very essence of her character.

My Thoughts:

I love
reading anything set in my home state of Arkansas, and this book was especially
wonderful.

In
Boerner's debut novel we get to travel to the Delta region of the state in the
mid-1970s. The delta region is full of farm land and residents make their
living from cotton, beans, and whatever crops they can grow. It is fascinating
for me to imagine that type of life, and very exciting to imagine it in the
70s.

This book
is told from the perspective of Gracie Lee, a ten-year-old daughter of a
farmer. Gracie Lee has a wild imagination and seems to be wise beyond her
years. She and her little sister live their lives carefree and mostly happy.
Mom is the typical 70s homemaker, and Dad spends the daylight hours out on the
farm. Mom takes the girls to church each Sunday, and early in this story Gracie
Lee finds herself at the front of the church with Pastor Brown. Baptism follows
although Gracie Lee claims she never intended to be saved.

One of my
favorite parts of this book was each Sunday when Gracie Lee would go to the
front of the church and have a conversation with Pastor Brown. It is during
these conversations that Gracie Lee is fairly honest with her home life - which
isn't always rainbows and ponies. Gracie Lee's daddy is a harsh man and I feel
like a lot of Gracie's imagination is her escape to a happier home.

This book
spans one year of Gracie Lee's life and the ordinary days that fill the life of
a ten year old. The characters were so completely real and I felt that by the end
of the book I could vividly picture many of them in my mind. I won't give away
any spoilers, but I can say that this story has one character that I truly
wanted to die. I've never felt that way about a character before, but my heart
went out to the people hurt by this character and I just wanted them gone.

In the end Gracie Lee had to make a decision. A decision that would be impossible for an adult to make, much less an 11 year old girl. But we see her willingness to act in a way that both benefits her family and fulfills the wishes of the one person who has hurt her the most. In that moment I felt that Gracie Lee grew up, and completely found her salvation.

This book
has a bittersweet ending, but I thought it was perfect for the story that was
told. I felt a sense of freedom on behalf of the characters when it was over,
and I felt I could close the pages knowing that everyone was going to be okay.

I most
definitely suggest adding this one to your reading list for 2016. You are going
to enjoy it for sure.

As the daughter of an Arkansas farmer, Talya grew up
playing in the cotton fields of Mississippi County while perfecting the art of
making mudpies. After high school, she moved to Texas for college. Talya
graduated from Baylor University with an economics degree primarily because her
Daddy said, “If I’m paying for college, you’ll get a business degree.” So
that’s what she did.

For nearly
thirty years, Talya lived in Dallas, built a successful banking career,
married, raised two incredible children and enjoyed life—all the while planning
to someday return to Arkansas.

In 2011,
after an “aha” moment, she left banking to pursue her dream of writing. Now she
lives in Fayetteville with her husband and splits time between Northwest
Arkansas and her family’s farm in Mississippi County.